A disappointing and demoralizing season hit rock bottom on Saturday at Nippert Stadium as Navy was blown out by Cincinnati, 42-0.

It was an absolutely ugly loss that left Navy with a 2-7 record with four regular season games remaining. That means the Midshipmen have been mathematically eliminated from bowl contention as there is no chance of finishing with a winning record.

Actually, I guess there is an incredibly remote possibility of Navy sneaking into a bowl through the backdoor by finishing 6-7. In recent years, some schools with losing records have gotten bowl bids because there were not enough teams to fill all the available slots.

At this point, it’s really hard to imagine the Mids embarking on a four-game winning streak. Especially with a road game against No. 12 Central Florida looming next Saturday in Orlando.

Frankly, considering the circumstances, the focus has to be on simply finding a way to play a better brand of football.

Navy hardly put up a fight on Saturday, getting dominated on both sides of the ball in being shut out for the first time since 2012. Cincinnati completely shut down the triple-option then marched up and down the field with impunity in racing to a 28-0 lead and never looking back.

Head coach Ken Niumatalolo had talked about the importance of putting together a complete game and the Midshipmen finally did. On Saturday, Navy was bad for both halves instead of just one as in previous losses to Temple, Houston and Notre Dame.

Navy’s hope of reclaiming the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy ended with the loss to Air Force while the guarantee of a losing record almost assuredly prevents a bowl appearance.

Navy has three more conference contests left on the schedule, but the only opponent that really matters anymore is Army.

Oh, how times have changed. From 2003 through 2015, it was Army that hoped to salvage a dismal season by beating Navy. Suddenly, the shoe is now on the other foot.

Army football is rolling, improving to 7-2 with Saturday’s hard-fought victory over Air Force at Michie Stadium in West Point. The Black Knights now boast the service academy program that plays with a swagger and an edge.

This reminds me so much of what happened when Paul Johnson came to Navy in 2002 and swiftly changed the balance of power among the three service academies. In those days, Air Force was the top dog and had a stranglehold on the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.

From 1989 through 2002, Air Force compiled an impressive 25-3 record against Army and Navy. In 2003, the Midshipmen beat the Falcons 28-25 in a memorable game at Fed Ex Field and things changed seemingly overnight.

Navy would go 14-0 against Air Force and Army en route to claiming the CIC Trophy in seven straight seasons. The Midshipmen and Falcons traded the coveted piece of hardware back-and-forth between 2010 and 2016, but it may have found a new home in West Point.

Jeff Monken was a key member of the Navy coaching staff from 2002 through 2007 and knows exactly what Johnson did to knock Air Force off its pedestal. Monken was named head coach at Army in December, 2013 and it did not take him long to do the same to Navy.

It’s almost frightening how fast the reversal of fortunes has been. Two years ago, Army posted just its second winning season since 1996 and put an emphatic end to its historic 14-game losing streak to Navy. Last year, the Black Knights beat the Midshipmen again to put an exclamation point on a breakthrough campaign that was the best at West Point since 1996 and concluded with 10 wins thanks to a victory in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Army has won 20 of its last 25 games and is 4-0 against Air Force and Navy during that time.

Meanwhile, the Navy ship suddenly steered into treacherous waters. After starting last season 5-0, the Midshipmen lost six of their last seven games to finish with a .500 record. A 49-7 rout of Virginia in the Military Bowl gave Navy a winning record for the 14th time in 15 seasons and provided positive momentum going into the offseason.

Unfortunately, Navy has been unable to build off that big victory over Virginia and this season has been nothing short of a disaster. It started on Sept. 1 with a surprising 59-41 loss to Hawaii and has now imploded amid a six-game losing streak that is the program’s longest since 2011.

Diehard fans know 2011 was a season to forget as Navy finished 5-7 and failed to qualify for a bowl for the only time between 2003 and 2017. Sadly, this season has been even worse than that one.

At least in 2011 the Midshipmen entered the second-to-last regular season game against San Jose State with a chance to earn a winning season and bowl berth. This year, those hopes are already gone with four games remaining.

Navy is now 4-13 over its last 17 games, certainly not a positive trend. I’m not going to get into an analysis of what has happened to this program over the past two seasons. I’ll save that for later.

That’s because there is still time to turn around this season. As mentioned at the top, it is time for the Navy players and coaches to show some pride. If the Midshipmen can find a way to put a better product on the field for the last four games it would go a long way toward easing the pain of what has happened to date.

For the seniors, this is a chance to lay a foundation for the future. For the underclassmen, this is a chance to build some momentum for next season.

Navy has a chance to shock the college football world by upsetting Central Florida next Saturday. Of course, that wouldn’t make the power brokers in the American Athletic Conference too happy since UCF is currently the favorite to earn the Group of Five bid to a New Year’s Day bowl.

I don’t think there is any doubt that Navy needs to win its final home game against Tulsa on Senior Day. Of course, the greatest opportunity for redemption comes on Dec. 8 in Philadelphia when Navy takes on archrival Army.

It’s been a long time, since the 3-30 days of 2001 and 2002, that Navy needed to salvage a miserable season by beating Army. It speaks volumes for how far this program has fallen that such a situation exists this season.